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Learn Hardcore Croatian: Trik je jednostavan. - The trick is simple.

Hardcore Croatian
/Setting up an ergonomic home office
/Trik je jednostavan.

Trik je jednostavan.

Word

Trik je jednostavan.

Meaning

The trick is simple.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Croatian

Lesson

Setting up an ergonomic home office

Breakdown of Trik je jednostavan.

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Questions & Answers about Trik je jednostavan.

What does each word in Trik je jednostavan mean?

trik = trick
je = is
jednostavan = simple

So the sentence literally matches English very closely: The trick is simple.

Why is there no word for the in Trik je jednostavan?

Croatian does not have articles like a/an/the.

So trik can mean:

a trick
the trick

Which one is meant depends on context. In this sentence, the natural English translation is usually The trick is simple, but Croatian itself does not mark that with an article.

What is je?

Je is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb biti (to be).

So:

ja sam = I am
ti si = you are
on/ona/ono je = he/she/it is

In Trik je jednostavan, je means is.

Why is jednostavan in that form?

Because it agrees with trik in:

gender
number
case

Trik is:

masculine
singular
nominative

So the adjective must also be masculine singular nominative:

jednostavan

If the noun changed, the adjective would change too. For example:

ideja je jednostavna = the idea is simple
rješenje je jednostavno = the solution is simple

Is trik masculine?

Yes. Trik is a masculine noun.

A good clue is that many Croatian masculine nouns in the dictionary form end in a consonant, and trik does.

Because it is masculine, the adjective appears as jednostavan, not jednostavna or jednostavno.

Why isn’t it Trik je jednostavno?

Because jednostavno is not the masculine singular form used to describe trik.

Compare:

jednostavan = masculine
jednostavna = feminine
jednostavno = neuter

Since trik is masculine, you need:

Trik je jednostavan.

However, jednostavno can also be an adverb meaning simply or simply put in other contexts.

Is the word order fixed? Can I say Jednostavan je trik?

Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but different orders can sound more marked or stylistic.

The neutral order here is:

Trik je jednostavan.

You may also see:

Jednostavan je trik.

That version puts more focus on jednostavan and sounds less neutral, more literary or emphatic. For everyday use, Trik je jednostavan is the safest choice.

Do I need a subject pronoun, like on?

No. Croatian usually does not require subject pronouns unless you want emphasis or contrast.

So you simply say:

Trik je jednostavan.

You would not normally say:

On trik je jednostavan.

And on je jednostavan would mean he/it is simple, not the trick is simple.

How do you pronounce Trik je jednostavan?

A rough English-style guide is:

Trik ≈ treek
je ≈ yeh
jednostavan ≈ yed-no-STAH-vahn

A few notes:

j in Croatian is pronounced like English y in yes
e is usually like e in bed, but cleaner and shorter
stress can vary by dialect and standard accent patterns, but for a beginner, saying yed-no-STAH-vahn is a reasonable approximation

Is jednostavan related to jedan?

Yes, historically and structurally it is related to the idea of one/single.

jedan = one
jednostavan often carries the sense of single-layered / uncomplicated / simple

You do not need to analyze it every time you use it, but it can help you remember the meaning.

Can this sentence also mean A trick is simple?

Grammatically, yes, because Croatian has no articles. Without context, trik can be understood as a trick or the trick.

But in actual usage, this sentence will usually be interpreted from context. Very often, especially as a standalone example, English chooses:

The trick is simple.

If the speaker meant a general statement like A trick is simple, that would usually sound odd in English unless more context were added.

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